Toy support and operating unit



Nov. 15, 1955 W. H. ZIMBALIST TOY SUPPORT AND OPERATING UNIT Filed May20, 1953 INVENTOR ATTORNE;

United States Patent 2,723,489 TOY SUPPORT AND OPERATING UNIT WilliamH.Zimbalist, Brooklyn, N. Y. Application May 20, 1953, Serial No. 356,148

7 Claims. (Cl. 4699) This invention relates to toys generally referredto as stuffed toys. More particularly, the invention deals with asupport and operating unit for toys of this type and kind having meansfor propelling the toy over a surface.

Still more particularly, the invention deals with a unit of thecharacter described having means for operative engagement with one setof wheels of the unit for actuating a portion of the toy to impartpredetermined movement thereto.

The novel features of the invention will be best understood from thefollowing description, when taken together with the accompanyingdrawing, in which certain embodiments of the invention are disclosedand, in which, the separate parts are designated by suitable referencecharacters in each of the views and, in which:

Fig. 1 is a side view of a unit made according to my invention with partof the construction broken away, and indicating in dot and dash linesthe outline of a stuffed dog supported on the unit;

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the structure as shown in Fig. l omitting therepresentation of the dog;

Fig. 3 is a partial section on the line 3-3 of Fig. l on an enlargedscale, with part of the construction broken away, and indicating saidpart in different positions in dot and dash lines; and

Fig. 4 is an enlarged sectional detailed view on the line 4-4 of Fig. 2,showing only part of the construction and omitting the backgroundshowing.

My invention deals with a support and operating unit for what isgenerally known as stuffed toys, and for purposes of illustration I haveindicated in Fig. 1 of the drawing, in dot and dash lines, the outlineof a stufiedtoy dog, the unit including a mechanism extending into thetail of the dog to actuate or wag the tail in movement of the dog or thesupportingunit thereof over a surface. In practice, my improved unitcomprises a frame composed of two similar substantially U-shaped framestrips 11, 11, each strip having an offset end portion at 12, 12 whichis welded to the opposed end 13, 13 in forming a rectangular base frame.

Opposed sides of the frame at the forward end thereof have alinedapertures for receiving a fro'nt wheel shaft 14, having rubber tiredwheels 15 fixed to the ends thereof outwardly of the frame. The wheelsare held in spaced relation on the frame by ofiset members on the shaft14, as at 16, which engage the inner surfaces of the frame sides. At therear portion of the frame, the sides have other opposed apertures forreceiving a" drive wheel shaft 17 having wheels 18 similar to' thewheels 15, the shaft 17 having offsets 16' similar to 16. The shaft 17has between the side members of the frame a crank portion 19.

Pivoted to the forward end portion of the frame in wardly of the shaft14' is a- U-shaped toy supporting frame 20 pivoted to frame strips 11,11' as seen at 21-. At the rear ofthe frame, and rearwardly of the driveshaft 17, is a hired U-shaped frame 22" which is fixed to the base frameas seen at 23, the frame 22 being braced to' 7 2,723,489 Patented Nov.15, 1955 ice 2 maintain a rigid position by bracing strips 24. At 25 isshown the upper crosshead of the frame 22 which is considerably narrowerthan the base frame, as will clearly appear from Fig. 2' of the drawing,and supported on this crosshead is the operative mechanism 26 of theunit 10.

The mechanism 26 comprises an upwardly extending supporting plate 27,having an angular base flange 28 which is welded to the crosshead 25.The plate 27 has at its side edges notches 29 for receiving bent-overcars 30 of a casing 31. The casing 31 is defined by a top wall 32, sidewalls 33, and a bottom wall 34, the top wall terminating short of. theplate 27 to form an opening 35 extending the full width of the casing.

Operating in the opening 35 and projecting from the casing is a lever 36which may be termed a tail actuating member. The lever 36 has within thecasing an ofiset pivot side 37 which is pivoted to an inwardly pressedbearing portion 38 on the plate 27 as seen at 39. The bearing portion 38is provided to minimize frictional engagement of the lever in itsmovement on the plate 27. The other side of the lever 36 has an inwardlyoffset portion 40 with which a connecting rod 41 is pivoted, as seen at42. The rod 41 has at the lower end thereof and adjacent the crank19reversely offset or curved portions' 43 and 44. At 451 have shown thecrank coupling member comprising a plate having a curved bearing portion46 at one end enveloping and rotatably mounted on the crank 19. Theother end portion of this plate has an elongated aperture 47, throughwhich offset 43 passes, and a metal strap or band 48 is disposed betweenthe ofiset 43 and one surface of the plate 45, and has ends bent uponthe opposed surface of the plate, one of which is seen at 49 in Fig'. 4of the drawing. This construction couples the connecting rod 41 with theplate and also operates to maintain alinement of the rod so as tosubstantially maintain its alinement with the pivot 42.

It will be noted from a consideration of Fig. 3 that the rod 41 operatesin an aperture 50 in the bottom wall 34of the casing 31.

The upper or outer end portion of the lever 36 has at on'eside' thereofa notch 51 for receiving the coupling loop 52 of a conventional bellelement 53, so that in operation of the lever 36 to the extremepositions indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 3, the bell 53 will besounded.

It will be apparent from the foregoing description that, as the unit10is operated over a surface, the wheels 18 of the drive shaft 17 willoperate the crank 19 to in turn" actuate the lever 36 on its pivot 39through the medium of the connecting rod 41, causing said lever to moveback and forth transversely with respect to the Y tail at 57. It willbeunderstood that the frame 20' is disposedwithjin the front legs 55with the crosshead of said frame disposed at the breast portion of thedog. By virtue of the pivotal mounting of the frame 2i), this willcompensate for slight variance in the dog structure, keeping in'm'indthat the rear frame 22 is fixed and this frame must maintain a definiteposition within the rear legs 56 The upper crosshead 25 of the frame 22,as well as the casing 31, are disposed within the rear portion of thedog with the lever 36 extending upwardly through the tailj57. The tail57 will be flexibly'join'ed with the body of the dog to facilitatemovement imparted thereto by the oscillation of the lever.

This construction will produce a wagging of the tail, as willbe'a'pp'arent. The only part of'the structure of the unit'10 whichwil'lbevisible externally of the dog 54' will be the connecting rod 41,the base frame, the wheels, and part of the coupling of the frames 20,22, and the braces 24 with the frame, the front and rear legs and 56being supported directly upon the members 11, 11' of the base frame.

It will be apparent that the tail wagging will take place in movement ofthe toy in either direction over a surface. It will also be apparentfrom the foregoing that a very simple and yet sturdy unit structure isprovided, and one in which a simple direct mechanical motion is providedwhich is not likely to get out of order or need repair.

Having fully described my invention, what I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent is:

l. A stuffed animal supporting and operating unit, said unit comprisinga base frame, a stuffed animal mounted upon the frame, two wheeledshafts rotatably mounted in opposed end portions of the frame, one shafthaving a crank portion, a pair of U-shaped supporting frames extendingupwardly from the base frame and arranged in said animal, one of saidsupporting frames being arranged adjacent the crank shaft and having anupper end extending to the upper rear portion of the stuffed animal,said last named frame having an actuating mechanism supported on theupper end thereof, said mechanism comprising a casing, a lever pivotedto said casing, means comprising a connecting rod for operativelycoupling said lever with the crank of said crank shaft, said leverhaving a projecting part forming an actuated member, the animalincluding a part enveloping said member and actuated by the operation ofsaid mechanism, and means for bracing the first named supporting frameto maintain predetermined position with respect to said base frame.

2. A stuffed animal supporting and operating unit, said unit comprisinga base frame, a stuffed animal mounted upon the frame, two wheeledshafts rotatably mounted in opposed end portions of the frame, one shafthaving a crank portion, a pair of U-shaped supporting frames extendingupwardly from the base frame and arranged in said animal, one of saidsupporting frames being arranged adjacent the crank shaft and having anupper end extending to the upper rear portion of the stuffed animal,said last named frame having an actuating mechanism supported on theupper end thereof, said mechanism comprising a casing, a lever pivotedto said casing, means comprising a connecting rod for operativelycoupling said lever with the crank of said crank shaft, said leverhaving a projecting part forming an actuated member, the animalincluding a part envelop- 1 ing said member and actuated by theoperation of said mechanism, means for bracing the first namedsupporting frame to maintain predetermined position with respect to saidbase frame, the coupling of said connecting rod with the crankcomprising a plate having a curved bearing portion enveloping the crank,an apertured portion in which the connecting rod is mounted, and meanssecuring the connecting rod to said plate.

3. The combination with a stuffed animal, having a body, front and rearleg members and a tail, of a supporting and operating unit comprising awheeled base frame extending longitudinally of the animal, two U- shapedsupporting frames extending upwardly from the base frame, one supportingframe being pivotally mounted on the base frame and being disposedwithin the front legs and part of the body of the animal, the othersupporting frame being fixedly secured to the base frame and disposedwithin the rear legs and having a crosshead disposed within the upper,rear portion of the body adjacent the tail, a wheel operated crank shaftin the base frame adjacent said last named supporting frame, meanscoupled with the crosshead of the last named frame for pivotallymounting a lever in connection therewith on an axis to swingtransversely of the body, said lever including a part extending into thetail,

a connecting rod pivotally coupled with one end of said lever, and meansrotatably coupling the other end of said connecting rod with the crankof said crank shaft, whereby, in the operation of the wheels of thecrank shaft, said rod will actuate said lever and transmit transversereciprocating movement to the tail of said animal mounted on said lever.

4. The combination with a stuffed animal, having a body, front and rearleg members and a tail, of a supporting and operating unit comprising awheeled base frame extending longitudinally of the animal, two U- shapedsupporting frames extending upwardly from the base frame, one supportingframe being pivotally mounted on the base frame and being disposedwithin the front legs and part of the body of the animal, the othersupporting frame being fixedly secured to the base frame and disposedwithin the rear legs and having a crosshead disposed within the upper,rear portion of the body adjacent the tail, a wheel operated crank shaftin the base frame adjacent said last named supporting frame, meanscoupled with the crosshead of the last named frame for pivotallymounting a lever in connection therewith on an axis to swingtransversely of the body, said lever including a part extending into thetail, 2. connecting rod pivotally coupled with one end of said lever,means rotatably coupling the other end of said connecting rod with thecrank of said crank shaft, whereby, in the operation of the wheels ofthe crank shaft, said rod will actuate said lever and transmittransverse reciprocating movement to the tail of said animal mounted onsaid lever, and the means pivotally mounting the lever on said crossheadcomprising a plate having an offset bearing portion, where the lever ispivoted to said plate.

5. The combination with a stuffed animal, having a body, front and rearleg members and a tail, of a supporting and operating unit comprising awheeled base frame extending longitudinally of the animal, two U- shapedsupporting frames extending upwardly from the base frame, one supportingframe being pivotally mounted on the base frame and being disposedWithin the front legs and part of the body of the animal, the othersupporting frame being fixedly secured to the base frame and disposedwithin the rear legs and having a crosshead disposed within the upper,rear portion of the body adjacent the tail, a wheel operated crank shaftin the base frame adjacent said last named supporting frame, meanscoupled with the crosshead of the last named frame for pivotallymounting a lever in connection therewith on an axis to swingtransversely of the body, said lever including a part extending into thetail, a connecting rod pivotally coupled with one end of said lever,means rotatably coupling the other end of said connecting rod with thecrank of said crank shaft, whereby, in the operation of the wheels ofthe crank shaft, said rod will actuate said lever and transmittransverse reciprocating movement to the tail of said animal mounted onsaid lever, the means pivotally mounting the lever on said crossheadcomprising a plate having an offset bearing portion, where the lever ispivoted to said plate, and the free end of said part of said leverincluding a sound producing element.

6. A stuffed dog support and operating unit of the class described,comprising a wheeled base frame, a stuffed dog mounted upon said frame,two upwardly extending U-shaped supporting frame members on the baseframe, said dog comprising a body, front and rear legs and a tail, onesupporting frame being pivotally mounted on the base frame and arrangedin the front legs and body, the other supporting frame being fixedlysecured to the base frame and arranged in the rear legs and body, saidfixed frame supporting, at its upper end, a mechanism including amovable member extending into said tail, the wheeled base frameincluding a rotatable crank shaft, said mechanism including a pivotedlever, of which said member constitutes a part, and means comprising aconnecting rod coupled with the crank of said crank shaft and pivoted tosaid lever for actuating said tail in movement of the unit over asurface.

7. A stuffed dog support and operating unit of the class described,comprising a wheeled base frame, a stuffed dog mounted upon said frame,two upwardly extending U- shaped supporting frame members on the baseframe, said dog comprising a body, front and rear legs and a tail, onesupporting frame being pivotally mounted on the base frame and arrangedin the front legs and body, the other supporting frame being fixedlysecured to the base frame and arranged in the rear legs and body, saidfixed frame supporting, at its upper end, a mechanism including amovable member extending into said tail, the wheeled base frameincluding a rotatable crank shaft, said mechanism including a pivotedlever, of which said member constitutes a part, means comprising aconnecting rod coupled with the crank of said crank shaft and pivoted tosaid lever for actuating said tail in movement of the unit over asurface, and said member including a References Cited in the file ofthis patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 902,429 Miners Oct. 27, 1908 1,270,346Thibault June 25, 1918 1,324,646 Clements Dec. 9, 1919 1,353,707 BarnardSept. 21, 1920 1,411,737 Leyer Apr. 4, 1922 1,708,170 Dickens Apr. 9,1929 2,514,450 Kopf July 11, 1950 2,580,346 Doe et al Dec. 25, 1951FOREIGN PATENTS 383,834 Great Britain Nov. 24, 1932 472,154 GreatBritain Sept. 17, 1937

